Drake and Beyoncé Get New Company on the Chart: Paul Simon

Drake’s “Views” is No. 1 for a sixth straight week on the Billboard album chart, as the album continues to post huge streaming numbers even as its CD and download sales plunge.

“Views” (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic) sold just 32,000 copies last week in the United States, according to Nielsen, a sum that a few years ago might have kept it at the bottom of the Top 10. By sales alone, “Views” is only the fifth-biggest album this week.

But with streaming and track downloads now part of the chart formula, the album holds its ground at No. 1. Last week 122 million songs from the album were streamed — meaning that for as long as “Views” has been out, it has notched better streaming numbers than any other album has had in a single week. Since the album came out, songs from it have been streamed just under one billion times.

Paul Simon’s latest album, “Stranger to Stranger” (Concord), opened at No. 3, his highest chart position in 29 years — he was last at No. 3 when his landmark solo album “Graceland” peaked at that spot in April 1987. (In Britain, “Stranger to Stranger” opened at No. 1.)

Also this week, Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” (Parkwood/Columbia) is No. 2 in its seventh week out, the Danish hard-rock band Volbeat is No. 4 with “Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie” (Republic) and the country singer Maren Morris is No. 5 with her new record, “Hero” (Columbia Nashville).